Michael Cummings
Panned by a lot of reviewers, I actually enjoyed this novel. While not mind boggling, it was a good read, and a nod towards the kinds of SF I read growing up. I thought it was a nice mix of Baxter's SF with Pratchett's occasional whimsy.
I have to caveat this review before it even gets started. Like the near mythical James Halliday in “Ready Player One,” I was born in the mid-70's. That means my perspective on the 80's is skewed through the lenses of someone who saw them as a child to teenager. Cline's use of Halliday's obsessive fascination with the 80's and all things geek, then, fits into my world picture just fine. But if the rousing call of “Thundarr!” doesn't even tickle a memory cell, or if the thought of Ultraman and Mechagodzilla make you just scratch your head in bewilderment, then Cline's book is going to be a tough and/or boring read. The book seems to have been written for and caters to the sci-fi and computer geeks who came of age in the 80's, and despite its future setting was intended to pull on those nostalgic heart strings.
On to the review!
The year is 2044, and life is about as we expected. Fuel shortages, housing shortages, poverty, its all there in spades. The only saving grace in this near dystopian future is the OASIS, an MMORPG so vast and pervasive that it has its own equipment for accessing it, and nearly everyone in the world actually does. The inventor of the OASIS, James Halliday, is wealthy beyond measure. And then he dies, willing both his fortune and ownership of the OASIS to whoever can solve the quest he has designed to find the Easter egg. “Ready Player One” is the story of Wade Watson, told in the first person as he takes part in this global quest, to find the three keys that open the three gates that lead to Halliday's prize Easter egg. Its a fairly fast paced story, where a lot of the action takes place in the OASIS itself, the augmented virtual reality that is so key in this world.
As far as complaints go - well, you can see that Cline is a fanboy of Whedon with his references to the Whedonverse and Firefly, but where's Farscape? Where's Earth Above and Beyond? Was there really too much culture to be able to reference in under 400 pages?
More seriously, the biggest problem I see folks having with this book is that it is so niche. I'm not unfamiliar with the marketability of the culture in question, believe me, but outside of our circle I can see this book being a very boring read for folks. The book could have taken place in 2014 as much as 2044 - most of the technology that is critical is at least at the speculative layer today. Which means when you peel back the “sci-fi” of it taking place in the future, all that you are really left with is a book that's reminiscent of an 80's movie that takes place in a virtual reality where knowledge of the 80's is key.
And yet, I loved the book. I couldn't put it down, reading it within a week of getting it, which says something this time of year. If my caveats have done nothing to disuade you, then go grab a copy now, and enjoy!
A solid pulp military sci-fi story, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't seat of the pants fun. I'm on the fence (hence the 3 stars) - it was a good read and good for filling the time, just not 4 star good :/
Prince of Thorns is the tale of a boy, scarred witness to the brutal murder of his mother and brother, who choses to turn his back on all things good in order to obtain vengence. This is a tale of revenge, as rich in its single mindedness as any classic by Dumas. Young Jorg forsakes every shred of his humanity to feed this desire, something initial reviewers were less than pleased with. Many lambasted this novel as dark and misogynistic, but I have to admit that I didn't see any of that when I read it. Maybe my perspective was tempered by interviews with the author and other commentators, but when I read Prince of Thorns what I saw in Jorg was a dark, disturbed boy, a sociopath created rather than born.
The first chapter sets the tone for the kind of book you have started. The razing of a village, the flippant use of violence to send a message, and all from the perspective of the instigator. The message to the reader is simple: this isn't going to be a light or cheery story. We are led through a world that's almost familiar - a map that looks striking like Europe, references to Jesus and Plutarch, Shakespeare and Rome. Confusing, at first, are the references to Nietzsche and other modern writers. Rest assured it will all make sense, begging more questions than are answered in this volume. This is a world familiar to us from our own history, familiar to readers of fantasy for its near medievalness, and yet somehow ajar to what we expect.
There is something else in this story, though, something lying beneath the layer of vengeance and hatred, beneath the blood and violence. This is a story you have to finish to realize just how sad it is. Its compelling, dark tale is written in the first person, drawing the reader into Jorg's warped, sick mind from the start. It is only through flashbacks peppered throughout the narrative that we begin to understand Jorg better. We understand the instigating moment with the briars, when he turned from ten year old boy to vengeful demon. We understand how in the course of only four years (because yes, the Jorg of book one is a young teen) Jorg could gather a band of cut throat, vile scum as his entourage. And only in the final pages of this book do we see what lies beneath the surface and what strings are really being pulled. As a reader, you have this perspective of watching Jorg take bite after painful bite from his heart, because it is bitter, and it is his.
This was a well written, easy to read debut novel. The best part? I've taken so long to read this book that the sequel is already out, so if you enjoy it, you can keep reading!
Catapulted to one of my favorite King books on this first reading. You can see so many elements that were later used in It here, but still raw and only slightly developed. Well written, the human tragedy of this book almost outweighs the horror elements.
Let me see if I can do this without giving away spoilers, ie, stick only to the info that's already relayed on the back cover. The writing is bad, it moves along at a nice pace, which is why the novel got the stars it got. My problem with it is I spent the first quarter of the novel thinking I'd heard this story, or something similar to it, before - and I had, in Stephen King's short “The Night Flyer.” The rest of the novel read like a loose modernization of the classic Brahm Stoker, which for a vampire novel isn't unexpected, but still, I'd been hoping for something a little more. You can definitely see Del Toro's influence in the vignettes that are interspersed through the novel, which are very movie-like in their quick glimpses. But there were no major surprises or seat gripping moments, either. Good for a beach read or home sick.
I must admit, an unexpectedly good time if brief. Old school fantasy (I really mean no offense by this, but it had an 80's fantasy vibe, only complete if there was a heavy metal thrash soundtrack in the background), but at the same time somewhat refreshing. It didn't linger or try to be more than it was - a story about two opposing paladins for opposing religions fighting an army of wolf men. Of course it wouldn't be book one in a series if that was all there was to it, but it didn't overstep too much either.
I needed something that was fun to read, knew not to take itself too seriously, and was outside my usual reading circles without being just foreign. Horns fit the bill, and I'm glad I read it. While I think Hill played the devilish references a bit much (from the Evil Knieval trail to the number of times he throws 666 out there), the book was still a fun read and well worth the price of admission. To sum up, because we don't waste too many words: Horns is the story of a young man that wakes up one morning, a year after his love was raped and murdered, to discover a pair of horns growing out of his skull. In particularly, I kind of enjoyed the fact that the Devil can be a superhero in the right light.
Jow Hill's Heart-Shaped Box is the kind of story you don't see often enough these days - a classic ghost story. Not a ghoul-fest, just a classic, straight up haunting and exorcism of a sorts. This is a solid three star book, not quite up to par with Horns, but still a decent read. As another reviewer said, I think my biggest problem was that the level of peril never seemed to be quite imminent. Hauntings run a thin line, and I think Hill was trying to avoid crossing over it, but the final result was a book that didn't quite drag me along in the middle. Plus, living in Fredericksburg, I kept getting distracted for that part of that book :)
Book five in the series returns us to the Solar System as the focus of our plot. Fast paced, this novel withdraws from some of the alien protomolecule activity to focus more on people being people.
I still miss Miller, but a good addition to the series.
Of the many faces of Stephen King, the mystery writer is probably my least favorite. Not a bad book, but I had a hard time getting engaged in the story.
A solid conclusion to the trilogy, Abercrombie did a nice job of bringing this story to a close with just enough loose ends for future additions. Not the place to start reading Abercrombie, but a much more active read than book two.
I stumbled on this book completely by accident, and feel all the better for doing so. Large parts of the text were written a century or more ago, yet Muir's writing resonates with a modernity and freshness that made this book a joy and a pleasure.
This is not literature. This is not high quality fiction, to be discussed in parlor's while sipping brandy. Not even during an afternoon respite, perhaps with some mint juleps or even just a cup of tea and biscuits.
For the record, I also didn't agree that this was a successor to the likes of Asimov (I've seen that reference).
So what was it, and why did I give it 4 stars? Bara's book was in line with Dickson's Childe Cycle, starting at Dorsai!, and that's not too shabby (Dorsai! will always be ranked in my top favorite books of all time). Impulse is a military space opera. Big events, big stakes, some big curtain tugs and waving of hands, and some big dumb objects. While I don't know if any one element of the story stood out for me (though it did remind me a bit of another guilty pleasure, Terry Nixon's Empire of Bones books), I found myself unable to put the book down. Maybe it helped that in this rare case, I was actually carting around a paperback copy of the book, but I found myself reading the entire book in just three days. In a week where I've been sick and missing all of my regular cadences, that says something.
With summer starting up here in the Northern Hemisphere, Impulse makes a great beach read. You're not reading a book like this because you want to explore the human condition - you're reading it for some fun adventure, and it delivers.
A five star rating, though I would really say 4 1/2 stars - but hear me out. I tend not to enjoy independent fiction, completely for unfair technical reasons. The stories may be fine, but the execution is typically so distractingly poor that I can't bear to make my way through.
Umstead's “Grabriel's Redemption” defies that generalization. Well written and engaging, the story is spartan and fast paced. I only paused once to question some science (this is what the genre brings out in us, and I stand by my assertion that that's not how science works). Otherwise, I read this without pause or inhibition and enjoyed the heck out of it.
Some criticize that the characters aren't well developed enough, but I would argue that they are just as well developed as any Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis character (hmmm, take that as you will on second thought). No, we don't get a feel for how Gabriel feels about global warming or what his preference is brandies is, but we do know how he will react, and he remains true to that characterization throughout.
This was a quick read, but I don't regret it at all. If you're looking for some non-Earth military action, you could do far worse than to sit with Gabriel and his team.
In full disclosure, I didn't even realize this was a YA book when I picked it up. I knew it was Abercrombie, and I knew it was a fresh world, and that was enough for me to begin reading. “Half A King” is the story of Yarvin, a prince who wants nothing more than to be a Minister, learn some lore, and stay out of the light of day. Before the novel even gains too much traction, his father and brother are killed, leaving him the title of king. He's unprepared for the role, and being born with less than a full compliment of fingers on one hand, he is quick to be given the titular half a king.
This being an Abercrombie novel, there should be no surprise that betrayal and a rapid change of fortune is the next step. The phases of this journey will be no surprise to the seasoned reader of fantasy. A boy, cast into the world, must find out who he really is, rising from a somewhat despicable, sniveling child to an adult that knows his own strengths and weaknesses and how to use them to achieve his objective. You come to this story expecting an Abercrombie fantasy, but you stay because despite some of its predictable elements, its told really, really well. The reader will recognize a world that is both familiar and a degree or two off of our own. Like many good fantasies, Abercrombie doesn't try and hide the grit behind feats of magic and enchanted swords. There was magic in the world once, and we occasionally get glimpses of the enchantment that was, but this world is firmly between cold iron and hot blood.
My only criticism of this novel, and the reason I didn't think it warranted a full five stars, was that I found the conclusion to be a little too trite and pat. It could be that I am too jaded a reader, too far removed from the intended audience to be surprised by the final twist, but I found it to be a little too convenient.
That said, I would still recommend the book to readers old and young alike, although in fairness some topics may be less appropriate for younger teens - not because the writing is difficult for younger readers, but because some of the content may not be appropriate.
This review was of the digital ARC provided by Del Rey via Netgalley. Thank you to both parties for the opportunity to read this book in advance - it's been hard holding this review until closer to publication :)
“Eon”, the first book of this series, did a fantastic job of givingthe reader glimpses of something deeper to the story, then taunting usby keeping it a foot out of reach. Does the sequel live up to the first volume?
For the most part, yes. “Eona” is the counter to it's predecessor, aconstant torrent of action and motion that rapidly drives the readerto the conclusion, which is really a shame. So many authors these days seem to perpetuate a series long past the point it should have ended, dragging their readership along because, as readers, they've already invested so much into it. If anything, though, Alison Goodman doesn't draw the story out long enough.
This sequel begins hot on the tail of the first book. Eona has just realized the truth of her dragon, but she is still untrained. Sethon has named himself emperor, and Eona's only hope at mastering herselfand her power lies in Ido, the Dragoneye responsible for all of the destruction. “Eona” dashes off from there, as Kygo struggles to secure the empire from his uncle, while Eona learns the secret of both her ancestor and the String of Pearls. Along the way, Eona learns what sheneeds to.
Goodman does too good a job though - even as we narrow in on the final pages, you can't help but wish there was another volume or three to the story. I don't believe we ever got a satisfactory answer about the compass, and Goodman's world is certainly rich enough that you want to spend more time in it. If you enjoyed Eon, you'll enjoy this conclusion.
Saladin Ahmed's “Engraved on the Eye” offers a nice sampling of Ahmed's short fiction. Collected in this volume are three short stories set in the same world as his first novel, The Crescent Throne, as well as a western, sci-fi, bunnies with swords, and an urban fantasy. Readers unfamiliar with the Crescent Throne will find the stories a good starting point, while fans of Saladin Adhmed's will enjoy the additional background on a certain ghul hunter and his blue clothed dhervish.
Tying the eight stories of this volume are two themes existing fans will find familiar: the fantastical, told with a heavy Middle Eastern influence. If Bradbury had been Arabic and living in middle America, this is what his first story collection might have looked like, ghul's, djenn, and demons included.
Don't make my mistake. I came to this book having read Friedman's other books and loving them. I missed the hidden note that this was very much a YA book. As a YA novel, it was fine, a little predictable but interesting enough. For adult readers looking for more books like a Madness Season, This Alien Shore, or the Coldfire books, this is probably not where you want to be.
Commala-come-come
I can't imagine reading this without reading the previous books. That said, a fun meta read.
The expanse! As an almost western! I'm torn on this addition to the Expanse, because while it was decent enough in its own right, it did very little for expanding our understanding of the Expanse universe. So - new readers will enjoy it, but existing readers won't gain much new from it. 3.5 stars, but on a generous round-up.
I want to enjoy this one (it's Brooks!!), but it just felt too repetitive of the book before this.
It's been years and years since I last tried to read these books. I know criticism abound, but I find the texture of the language to be just what I needed.
When this series began, there were complaints from some reviewers that the destruction of Windwir seemed too inconsistent. Why did Neb survive, but not others? What was the nature of the destruction that it could raze the city, but leave random individuals untouched? At the time, I attributed this to the randomness of destructive nature - if you've ever looked at what did and didn't survive a tornado as it decimates a community, you know what I mean.
Antiphon takes a stab at starting to give the rationale in the context of the Nine Lands, and yeah, I didn't see that coming :)
Antiphon is a worthy continuation of the Psalms of Isaak, in what can only be described now as a science fiction epic, shrouded in fantasy, with the drapery of steampunk and the trappings of...fantasy. Bah. Post-apocalyptic apocalyptic fiction?
Whatever classification system you use, I call it a good fun read. Probably not the best place to dive into the story, still a great read. Enjoyed it!